Santiago, Chile – Chile said Monday that it is not a threat “to anyone,” in response to Peruvian presidential candidate Ollanta Humala’s remarks that Santiago had upset the military balance in the region with recent weaponry purchases.

“For all types of equipment, civilian or military, there is a replacement process, primarily taking into account the speed of technological change,” Chilean Defense Minister Vivianne Blanlot said, adding that Humala’s remarks are part of the presidential campaign under way in the neighboring country.

Peruvians are set to vote in general elections on April 9. Humala, a former army colonel and radical nationalist, is leading in the presidential polls.

“And we’re in the process of that, updating ourselves and retiring equipment that is obsolete. That’s all,” she said.

The minister referred to the matter after the commander-in-chief of the Chilean armed forces, Osvaldo Sarabia, also denied that Santiago had begun an arms race in the region with its recent purchase of F-16 aircraft, along with modern ships and tanks.

“There’s no arms race. What the armed forces have done is replace materiel that was becoming obsolete and was becoming very expensive to keep functioning,” he told journalists.

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